What?!

What was Hans Hoffman saying?

With such dramatic plot twists, Matthew couldn’t keep up.

Was Mr. Hoffman suggesting that Xia Xiaolan was allowed to truly participate in the project because her design approach gained client approval?

What a joke!

Everyone in the firm knew about Xia Xiaolan’s questionable close relationship with major client Harold Wilson. Even if she designed a pile of garbage, Harold would praise it just to support her.

Was GMP going to hold its nose and accept someone who relied on connections?

Shit!

GMP’s standards were far lower than he’d imagined. It was just a hotel project – GMP wouldn’t go bankrupt without this business!

Matthew felt the cruelty of capitalism.

He had never hated this connection-dependent Xia Xiaolan more than now. If even GMP would compromise, what could he do? While Matthew was raging internally, Hoffman was still watching him. His body proved more honest than his mind as he stood up smiling:

“Yes sir, I’m Matthew Carlton, also from Cornell University’s School of Architecture. I’ll assist Xia during the bidding period.”

Hoffman impatiently gestured for him to sit down. With the bid deadline looming, he had no time to listen to Matthew’s detailed self-introduction.

Xia Xiaolan knew Matthew must be extremely frustrated now.

After the meeting ended, Xia Xiaolan left Hoffman’s office intending to get coffee from the break room, but Matthew cornered her:

“Hey! Are you satisfied with this? This is unfair competition!”

He was truly angry!

He’d thought Xia Xiaolan would be sidelined indefinitely, but suddenly he had to assist her. They were both interns, but just because he didn’t have wealthy backers supporting him, he had to suffer this treatment.

Xia Xiaolan calmly pointed out his incorrect choice of words:

“Matthew Carlton, we’re just both interning at GMP. I know you’re near graduation and want a good job, so this GMP internship is important to you because you want to stay here permanently, right? You may be mistaken – I’m not your competitor. I’ll only be a junior this fall, I’m just an exchange student at Cornell for a year. I won’t be staying at GMP… And even if I did stay, couldn’t GMP hire two new employees at once?”

Xia Xiaolan had never taken Matthew too seriously – he was calculating but not truly malicious.

But Matthew had always seen her as a rival. Xia Xiaolan already struggled to advance at GMP; without clarifying things, having Matthew as an uncooperative teammate would only make it harder!

Matthew was stunned.

Xia Xiaolan pushed past him: “Think about it – if I had that much influence to affect such a major project, would I need to endure mistreatment at GMP? Was Professor McCarthy’s A+ also because I had connections? The C&W competition had two firm judges and three professors as judges – were they all bought off too?”

Getting angry about others using connections won’t lead to success.

If it were Xia Xiaolan, she would just work harder, letting her performance crush those who relied on connections.

Besides, damn it, she never used connections – that awful Harold was ruining things for her!

Matthew was repeatedly stunned by Xia Xiaolan’s rebuttals.

After a while, he reverted to his sheepish demeanor and went to Grey, expressing that to better assist Xia Xiaolan, he wanted to see the design that had won over the client.

At the conference table, Matthew’s seat was too far back, and no one had passed the drawing to an intern.

Grey nodded, “Perfect timing, I wanted to see it too.”

Matthew instantly found an ally.

He wasn’t the only one who was skeptical – Grey questioned it too.

As Hoffman’s trusted assistant, Grey easily retrieved Xia Xiaolan’s design.

Matthew glanced at it briefly and thought it wasn’t much different from Hoffman’s team’s previous design.

Was this worth such praise?

It was just minor details!

This success was built on the foundation of Hoffman’s team’s already excellent design.

Grey studied it carefully and, seeming to know what Matthew was thinking, murmured:

“Matthew, this isn’t a simple modification – she made the work softer.”

This wasn’t easy.

What was Hoffman’s team’s level?

Could just anyone easily modify Hoffman’s work without it feeling out of place?

This showed truly frightening ability – while perhaps not equal to Hans Hoffman, it was definitely beyond what you’d expect from a Cornell architecture undergraduate!

Look at Matthew, another student right there.

Matthew didn’t even understand why these changes were made.

Matthew was surely an excellent student at Cornell’s Architecture School, but a student’s so-called architectural design was completely different from what firms needed from experienced hands. Sympathy crossed Grey’s face, though it wasn’t clear if it was for Matthew or herself – this industry required accumulation and dedication, but especially talent. Talented people could truly outpace their peers.

Grey fell silent.

Matthew stared intently at the design:

“Made softer?”

GMP’s minimalist design was already high-class; Matthew didn’t understand why it needed this softness.

Grey didn’t understand either.

If Hoffman had been present, he could have explained it to them.

…

Hoffman was initially very angry. Even though Xia Xiaolan hadn’t ruined the presentation, after returning to the firm, he wanted to kick out this rule-breaking intern.

However, the partner asked to see Xia Xiaolan’s modified design.

Upon inspection, GMP’s New York partner Andrew Kissinger saw the strategy:

“Hans, this isn’t just about connections. I think Xia grasped the client’s psychology.”

Wasn’t that obvious? They already knew each other – Xia Xiaolan surely knew what Harold was thinking.

Kissinger shook his head, “No, no, drop that expression. I’m not talking about personal relationships. Even if their relationship isn’t purely professional, it doesn’t affect GMP getting the project. It’s helpful – even minimal help is still helpful, isn’t it? If GMP’s proposal is on par with Foster and P&W, this small advantage might make Wilson Hotel choose GMP!”

Hoffman nodded, “I know, that’s why we brought her along.”

This was Hoffman’s compromise.

Kissinger smiled, “Bringing her was right. Xia is an ambitious intern. Unhappy about being isolated by the company, she decided to prove herself. This design is her answer. Hans, when I say she grasped the client’s psychology, I don’t mean Harold Wilson’s personal preference. Even from a purely professional standpoint, Harold would favor her modified version. Do you know why?”

Hoffman didn’t know and waited for Kissinger’s explanation.

Kissinger didn’t keep him in suspense:

“Remember the armed assault at Wilson Hotel in April? Media reported that Wilson Hotel wrongfully fired their security director, and some even sympathized with the attacker… Though the incident is past, Wilson Hotel’s reputation remains affected. The declining occupancy rate is a fact. At this time, a cold minimalist style for Wilson Hotel’s new project might not be appropriate.”

The softer approach, reducing sharp impacts, could reassure guests and prevent them from associating the new Washington location with the old location’s shooting incident.

Softness brought a sense of security.

This was the client’s true psychology!